Sign box



2 SHEETSMSHEIET 1.

A. PERRY.

SIGN BOX.

' FILED SEPT- l 3 I921.

Feb. 20,1923.

//V VE/VTOR Mos PERRY AfropA/gx CZL.

v x l -2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTOP/YEY Feb. 20, 1923.

N 2 a 2 MHHH HKIWWMM W Patented Feb. 2Q, 1923. I

AMOS PERRY, .OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SIGN BOX.

Application filed September 13,, 1921'. eel-s1 No. 500,417.

To aZlwhom it may concern.

Beit known that I, Euros PERRY, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Fra'i visco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Sign Box, of which the following is a, specification.

This invention relates to a sign box, such as employed on street-cars, etc, and especially to a web winding and tensioning device therefor.

In sign boxes such as employed on streetcars, it is common practice to'employ a long fabric web or belt on which is printed or otherwise displayed street. names, stations and the like. The web is generally carried by a pair of rollers and is wound from one to the other when it is desired to change the street name orstation displayed. Considerable trouble is encountered, such as buckling, folding, wrinkling, etc, where a web of this character is repeatedly transferred from one roller to anotherdue to the fact that it is diflicult to maintain a constant or sufficient tautness inthe web at all times.

The objectof the present invention is to generally improve and simplify devices of this character, and especiallyto provide a j winding and tenslonlng mechanism which sectional dicates a box-like structure, in one side of.

which is formed a window or display opening 2. J ournalled longitudinally of the box and. mounted interior thereof is a pair of upper and lower rollers generally indicated;

at 3 and 4. The roller 4 is secured on a shaft which isturnably mounted in journals 5 and 6, while/the roller 3 is supported in journals 7 and '8. The roller '4: is 1.'igidlysecured on the shaft supporting. the same and; therefore turns in unison with the shaft.-

The roller 3; while free to rotate in its jour nals, is however supported in different manner. By referring to, Fig. 2, it will be .seen that'one end of the roller-is solid as indicated at 3, and that this solid portion is. rigidly secured to a pin or shaft extension 9, which enters the ournal member 7.

forminga closure for the opposite end of the tube is a plug or bushing 11, through which extends a shaft 12; It. will thus be The roller 3Iis surrounded by a tube 10, and

seen that the upper roller consists of a solid v section and a hollow, section or tube. This shaft is supported at one endin thejournalj.

member .8, and it extends through thebushing 11 and enters the forward end of the roller 3; it being freely turnable in the bushing and in the roller.- A driving connection is however formed between the shaft 12 end the roller .3 and tube 10, which is resilient; such resilient drive being formed by sur rounding shaft l2with a spring 13; one end" of the spring beingsecured to the'shaft, as

at 14, while the opposite end is secured to the roller and tube'lO, as indicated at The rollers are provided for theflreception of a fabric web 'or belt 16 upon which is printed ordisplayed a series of street names, stations or the like, asindicated' at 17,55,6 9. Fig. 1. One end of. the belt is secured tothej tube 10, while the opposite end of the-belt about the respective rollers and the portion extending between therollers is that which displays the street or station named.

Whenever it desired to change the street name displayed, it is only necessary to impart a turning movement to the rollers to is secured to the roller 4. The belt is wound 1' bring the next'name into register withthe display opening. Such turning movement,

'when it is desired to change the street station name displayed, isimparted by a mechanism generallyindicated at B. The

mechanism consists of a bracket 18 secured inone end of the housing. Extending'crosswise of the bracket and journalled therein, is a shaft 19, on one end ofwhich is secured a bevel gear 20 and a sprocket gear 21.

Also journalled in the bracket and extending at right angles thereto "is a shaft 22. 1 Secured on theinner end of the shaft and shafts 22 and 19. Secured on the inner end er the shaft 1211s a sprocket gear 25. Simi .Ineshing with the, bevel gearQO, is a bevel" gear 23, and secure'd'on the outer end of. shaft 22 is a hand crank 24,105 meanslof which rotary movement is transmitted to the larly secured on the roller shaft 4 is a sprocket gear 26, and forming a driving connection between the sprocket gear 21 and the sprockets 25 and 26 is an endless driving chain :27.

In actual practice it is obvious that the belt 16 will. have considerable length as it is generally necessary to provide a considerable number of street or station names, particularly when the tracks extend over a large territory. T his web or belt is, as previously stated, carried by the rollers 23 and a, and is wound from one roller to the other as street changes are required. It is therefore obvious that one roller or the other will increase in diameter as the web is being wound or unwound, and that considerable slack will be permitted it some compensating means is not provided. This is due to the fact that the sprockets 25 and. 26 have a common pitch diameter, and are driven in unison. Such slack however is avoided in the present instance and a constant tension or pull is exerted regardless oi: whether the belt is being wound in one direction or another; this constant tension being maintained by the spring 13. For instance it the belt is being wound about the roller i, and this increases in diameter with relation to that portion which is wound about the roller 3, it can be seen that as both rollers are driven in unison, the tension on the belt will increase to such an exent that it might part. This is avoided in the present in stance as the roller 3 andtube l canturn independently of the shaft 12, due to the resilient connection formed by the spring In other words the speed of rotation roller 3 and tube would increase under that condition and spring 18 would be partially wound. lit the operation of winding is reversed, and the roller 8 presents a smaller diameter than theroller 4:, it is obvious that the speed of rotation of roller 3 will have to be greater than the speed of rotation of the roller a as it is obvious that a considerable amount of slack would accumulate between the rollers. Such increased speed is automatically taken care of by the spring 13 as this was placed partially under tension when the web was being unwound. As the diameter ot the roller 3 increases, the speed of rotation will gradually decrease and when the diameters are equal, the speed will be equal as sprockets and 26 are equal in diameter. Again as the diameter 01: the roller 3 increases, the speed will decrease, while the speed of rotation or" roller e re mains constant. In fact the roller t will be drivenv at a constant speed at all times, but

the speed oi rotation of the roller 3 automatically increases or decreases as conditions demand, thus maintaining the belt or web in taut condition at all times, and avoiding such objections as buckling, tolding or wrinkling of the web, etc.

The mechanism employed is exceedingly simple, no attention being required on the part of the operator the mechanis 1 is entirely automatic in action. in tact his only duty is that of rotating the crank 24. when a change in display is required. The entire structure of the roller 3 is, practically spealfng. identical. to an ordinary window shaoe roller. it may therefore be mounted in a. similar manner so that it may be removed with relation to the sprocket and the bearing 7. l l ith this object in view outer end ot the shaft 12 entering the sprocket 25, may be flattened as indicated at 12. This permits it to be removed when required and at the same time permits a driving connection to be established between the sprocket and the shaft.

Having thus described my invention, what is claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A device of the class described, including an oblong casing provided at its opposite ends with upper and lower bearings, a pair of upper and lower spaced horizontal rollers mounted in the said bearings, the upper rollers consisting of a solid section and a tube fitted on the solid section and extending therefrom. to form a housing, a plug arranged within the outer end oi? the tube, a shaft extending through the plug into the tube and having its inner end mounted in the solid section of the upper roller, said shait being extended outwardly beyond the id plugand mounted. in one of thev said bearings, a coiled spring housed within the tube and disposed. on the said shaft and con nected at one end with the same and at the other end with the tube and the hollow sec tion, a short horizontal shaft located within the casin at one end thereof, sprocket wheels also arranged within the casing and mounted on the said shafts and on the said lower roller, a sprocket chain arranged on the said sprocket wheels, a belt wound upon and carried by the said rollers, an operating shaft extending through the casing to. a point adjacent the horizontal shaft at right angles to the same, bevel gearsconnecting the operating shaft with the horizontal shaft, and a bracket mounted within the casing and supporting the short horizontal shaft and the operating shaft.

AMOS PERRY. 

